Meanwhile, In The Oklahoma Senate...

Do unto yourself as you would do unto others:

In October 2009, President Obama signed into law a change to the US's protections against hate crimes that expanded protection to cover people on the basis of their sexual orientation and gender identity.

That law, known as The Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act, was opposed by some lawmakers in Oklahoma who feared it would "trample on the free speech rights of religious leaders who preached out against the lifestyle of the victim who was attacked," notes the Out in Oklahoma City blog.

But "in trying to strip gays and lesbians of protection, the Oklahoma State Senate inadvertently cited the wrong section of the US code," reports Igor Volsky at ThinkProgress. "The bill stripped rights under Title 18 US Code Section 245, but protections for sexual orientation and gender identity is actually under Section 249."

Section 245 protects people against hate crimes on the basis of "race, color, religion or national origin." Thus the very same religious leaders who worried that the federal hate crimes statute would criminalize their opinions are now in danger of losing hate-crimes protection themselves.